CFP: Globalizing the Community College Curricula Conference

Call for Proposals
Arts and Education without Borders

Globalizing the Community College Curricula Conference 2025

The University of Arizona’s U.S. Department of Education Title VI Centers — Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS), Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL), Center for Latin America Studies (CLAS) and Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) — are pleased to announce the call for proposals for our ninth annual Globalizing the Community College Curricula Conference. This year’s conference theme, Arts and Education without Borders, will explore innovative strategies and best practices for integrating global perspectives into community college curricula through the arts. We invite educators, artists, administrators, and researchers to submit proposals that offer fresh insights, share successful models, and explore innovative ways to infuse global and multicultural elements into community college arts education.

Theme and Focus Areas

Arts encompass a wide range of creative expressions that include visual arts, performing arts, literary arts, and more. Each form of art uses different mediums, techniques, and styles to convey ideas, emotions, and experiences.

Arts in education play a vital role in fostering a well-rounded and holistic learning experience. By incorporating arts into the curriculum, educators help students develop essential life skills, enhance their academic abilities, and nurture their emotional and social well-being.

As our world becomes increasingly interconnected, it is crucial for community colleges to prepare students to thrive in a globalized society. The arts provide a unique platform for fostering cross-cultural understanding, empathy, critical thinking, and creative expression. The conference theme, “Arts and Education without Borders,” explores how the arts can be leveraged to globalize community college curricula, creating more inclusive and culturally responsive educational experiences for students, and preparing them for diverse, multicultural environments.

Possible focus areas include, but are not limited to:

  • Cross-Cultural Art Collaborations: Strategies for fostering partnerships between community colleges and international institutions to create joint art projects, exhibitions, or performances.
  • Art as a Medium for Global Education: Innovative pedagogical approaches that use visual arts, calligraphy, music, theater, dance, or digital media to teach global perspectives and issues.
  • Curriculum Development: Designing or revising community college courses that integrate global themes through the arts, including interdisciplinary approaches.
  • Interdisciplinary Learning:
    • STEAM: Combines the arts with STEM subjects to promote innovative thinking and creativity in problem-solving.
    • Social Studies and History: Using visual arts, music, and theater to explore historical events, cultural practices, and societal changes.
    • Language Arts: Incorporating drama and creative writing to enhance understanding of literature, narrative structure, and language use.
  • Community Engagement: Initiatives that involve local and global communities in the educational process, using the arts to build bridges and foster understanding.
  • Technology and the Arts: Leveraging digital tools and platforms to create global art projects and enhance cross-cultural communication and collaboration; utilizing digital storytelling as a medium for exploring global issues through the arts; using AI-generated arts in the classroom and its ethics/challenges.
  • Case Studies and Best Practices: Presentations of successful programs or projects that have effectively globalized community college curricula through the arts.
  • Articulating Social (In)Justice through Art: Specific topics could revolve around immigration, refugee, wars, women and children’s rights, human rights, LGBTQ rights, etc.

 

Proposal Submission Guidelines

We welcome proposals for individual presentations. Proposals must be submitted through the online form.

The submission form requires:

  • Title of the proposed paper
  • Presenter(s) name, affiliation, and contact information
  • Proposal (maximum 300 words) providing an overview of your proposed session, emailed as PDF or Word document to TVI-outreach@arizona.edu
  • Abstract (maximum 50 words) providing a summary of your session for use in the program

All proposals must be submitted by October 28, 2024. Notifications for accepted proposals will be sent by November 11, 2024.

This conference will meet in-person, with limited funding available for out-of-town presenters’ accommodations.

We look forward to your valuable contributions to the Globalizing the Community College Curricula Conference: Arts and Education without Borders. Together, let us explore innovative approaches and inspire one another to create more inclusive, diverse, and globally-engaged college curricula.

If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at TVI-Outreach@arizona.edu.